st petersburg travel resources
everything you need to PLAN & BOOK
your next vacation
Our St Petersburg travel resources section is a list of our favorite useful tools and websites to help you plan your next vacation to Russia on your own and the easy way.
Welcome to our travel resources section, a curated list of the best online tools and booking sites on one place that we hope you may find useful.
There are a lot of travel booking sites out there you can use to find the best deals and/or design your vacation, but trying to figure out which one is the best takes a lot of time. And, we guess, we all have got better things to do, like spending time with family or friends.
For this reason, we have put together a list of websites, services, and tools that we personally use and highly recommend that you check out. Below, we're showing you where to find cheap flights, book the best hotel deals or accommodation with local hosts, find top travel insurance and apps, and much more.
These tools will help you plan your next trip, save you money, and possibly even help you avoid a travel breakdown along the way. Of course, you still have to do some research and comparison shop, but at least you know where to start searching.
Before or during your trip our St Petersburg Travel Resources may help you to get you covered. The page is updated often, so please be sure to check back soon.
OUR FAVORITE st petersburg travel resources
Ready to Start? If so, start browsing below through our page and happy planning.
airfare
Kayak is an online flight fare aggregator designed to help you quickly research the best travel deals through a large variety of airlines. It gives you an idea of how the prices are for a given flight, three days before and after. We recommend Kayak because it can help you find the best prices and travel times for several travel purchases such as flights, hotels, apartment and condo rentals, rental cars, vacation packages, cruises, and trains. Kayka is everything you may need in one place, but we use it only for flight searches only.
This is our all-time favorite search engine. Skyscanner searches a lot of different airlines, including many of the budget carriers that larger sites miss. It let you compare millions of flights (including budget airlines which get missed on other sites) to search for flights using the “Whole Month” filter, searching flights from your departure city to “Everywhere” to find the cheapest destinations to visit and more. We use Skyscanner in combination with Google Flights and Kayak and we usually end up stumbling upon some really good deals.
We all know Google, isn't it? Well, it also offers one of the best flight search engines out there known as Google Flights. Their tool lets you enter your departure airport and see flights all over the world on a map so you can see where the cheapest destination is. They also suggest different dates for cheaper flights. What we love about Google Flights is it will give you notifications when flights are going up and it will also suggest which flight is the best option for you so you don't have crazy layovers or there is a non-stop flight available.
accommodation
Booking.com is our number one hotel booking engine for both domestic and international reservations. It provides a great resources and good value for your money. We like their easy to use interface, their wide selection (they also include smaller family run properties), and their no money down policy, which covers you if you have to cancel your reservation at the last minute. Booking.com is especially good for listing in developing countries, so if you plan to travel in Europe or North America use it.
If you travel low budget and privacy is not an issue for you, then Hostelworld is the right platform to book your accommodation while traveling. This is the best hostel accommodation site out there with
the largest inventory, best search interface, and highest availability.
The good thing about Hostelworld is that you only have to pay 15% of the total price upfront. And, since they bought their
competitor Hostelbookers, they are the biggest game in town.
Airbnb is a platform that connects you with local homeowners who rent out their homes/apartments to you. You’ll get all the comforts of home, the chance to stay in a local, non-touristy part of where you are going, and pay a fraction of the cost of a hotel room. If you prefer a more local experience over hotels and you want to feel like at home, then book for your accommodation via Airbnb. If you’re new to Airbnb get €25/$30 off your first stay.
visa support
If you plan to travel to Russia, you should know that an invitation is required to apply for a Visa. If your hotel does not provide visa service and/or you want to avoid being overcharged for asking one, then we recommend iVisa.ru. They will send you an invitation letter directly to your email address with just a few clicks. Based on our experience, iVisa is the most reliable, modern, and innovative online Russian platform out there for issuing invitations for a Russian visa. The process is easy, fast, and reliable. Give it a try!
Passportvisasexpress is the place to go if you need a Russian Visa and you are a legal resident of the United States. This USA based company assists citizens of all countries obtaining visas & passports provided they are legal residents of the United States. They work directly with each embassy to help expedite visa applications to over 150 countries, including Russia. And, if you need to renew your passport or make a new one you can get one within 24hrs. We recommend them because they are reliable, fast, and both of their services offered (Passport & Visas) can be handled online without leaving the comfort of your couch.
transportation
If you like to rent a car and drive yourself Rentalscars.com is the right site to go. It connects you to the biggest brands in car hire such as Herts, AVIS, Europcar, Budget, Alamo, and many others. They are working with over 900 companies in 160 countries, their website is easy to use (they have a friendly interface), and multilingual (you can choose from 45 languages). What we like about Rentalcars is that they offer great prices on all car groups, including luxury cars, people carriers, minivans, and automatic cars.
Blablacar is the largest long-distance ride sharing community. It is the cheapest way to travel by road. It can also be a great way to meet locals and travelers. Blablacar is available in Europe and a few other countries. We use it a couple of times from St. Petersburg to Moscow and the way back, and it worked well. The only downside is knowing the Russian language is essential as the people you may meet won't be able to speak English.
rail travel
The train is the cheapest, safest, and most comfortable way to travel in and around Russia. And, honestly speaking a train journey is a must-do in Russia, like going on a gondola in Venice. So, if you are thinking of planning a journey by train and you want to get your tickets in advance, Russiantrain.com is the right place to look. They offer a modern, fast, and easy to use interface along with great customer service and reasonable prices. From Russiantrain website you can purchase both electronic train tickets and paper tickets on any Russian train. Please note that if you will buy your train ticket at the train station it will be definitely cheaper, but with no guarantee of finding a good seat.
sea travel
Cruisesheet.com is the site to go for finding the best deals on ship cruises. Many travel hackers use this site as a resource to find one-way cruises, also known as repositioning cruises. We’ve spotted some good deals on this site, so check it out. Please note that deals seem to don’t last long.
travel insurance
WorldNomads it’s one of the top well-respected travel insurance companies in the world. They have great customer service, competitive prices, and in-depth coverage. We buy all our travel insurance from WorldNomads because they offer very affordable and flexible insurance coverage. They are also recommended by Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and many travel bloggers, so you know they are good. That being said, we recommend you check out the plans available and weigh out your options.
international data PLANS & SIM CARDS
St Petersburg Travel ResourcesThe GigSky travel SIM card helps you save money while traveling by offering lower data rates. You just need to replace the SIM in your unlocked phone with the one from GigSky, then buy data as you go in each country. It does not provide you with a local number, and there are no free voice minutes. This is not a drawback because, with the use of data connection only, you could talk to friends and family at home via WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber. It works all over the world, is easy to use, and has decent rates.
If you're planning a trip abroad having a travel SIM card is one way to go to avoid expensive roaming fees. There are many travel SIM cards out there to choose from, but for your trip to Russia, we recommend OneSimCard Data & Roam. It offers coverage in more than 200 countries and free incoming calls in 162 countries. It also includes European and U.S. numbers. Outgoing calls start at $0.29 per minute, while data costs as low as $0.02 per MB — bi-weekly and monthly packages are available. Pricing depends on where you’re traveling to, so do check the prices before buying one.
recommended TRAVEL apps
Google Translate is our choice for on-the-go translations due to its fast and simple interface. Includes voice and text instant translation in many different languages. Make sure to download the languages that you will be using beforehand so that you can translate them offline later. Microsoft translate is also a good alternative.
Maps.me is the one app every traveler should have. Download the map of a country or region before your trip, and enjoy free offline maps, route planning, navigation, and location searches. Their easy-to-use app works with Android or iOS. Google maps can be also a good alternative.
Tripit is the most popular organization travel app. Practically the app forwards your various email confirmations (flights, trains, dinner reservations, etc.) to your Tripit app and it will automatically add it to your itinerary. All your information is then available offline once it’s been downloaded. Interesting and useful App free to use.
This is a must-have if you are planning to visit multiple countries on your trip. It allows you to quickly convert between currencies of any country, and it works offline. Rates are updated on a daily basis when you are online according to XE.com rates.
Uber is a location-based app that makes hiring an on-demand private driver. Much better than taking a taxi. It’s safe, cheap and moreover it’s useful if you don’t speak the local language. If public transit is difficult to use, try Uber, and get to your destination with the tap of a button on your smartphone device.
research & planning
If your destination is St Petersburg Russia, you can use our website to find information about the city, book local services, and listen to our local tips. But if this is not enough for you, or you have not found what you are looking for, then we recommend the following websites:
Wikitravel is a crowdsourced travel guide that has proven to be an incredible resource for us when it comes to researching new destinations. Like Wikipedia, there are contributors known as Wikitravellers. These people do a great job keeping the destination guide as up to date as possible.
The forum over at TripAdvisor is a great resource for those of you who have questions about a specific place, hotel, flight, activity and more.
In the event you’ve got a long layover or a flight that leaves you with no other option than to spend the night at the airport, this website can help you a lot. The airport guides found on this interesting site are very comprehensive and cover everything from lounge information, Wi-Fi availability, ATM locations, dining options and so much more.
health and safety
St Petersburg Travel ResourcesThe US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is a great resource for those who are looking for more information about destinations across the world. The information found on Travel.State.Gov includes things such as passport and visa requirements, vaccination information, embassy and consulate contact information, travel warnings, destination facts, and much more. Definitely wise to check out them before going somewhere, but take everything they say with a grain of salt.
If before going to your destination you would like to know which vaccinations you need for, then we recommend checking out the official CDC Website (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) to find out more information about vaccinations, important travel notices and warnings, and so much more.
Disclosure: Please note
that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional
cost to you, we will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase
after clicking through the link. Please understand that we recommend
only products and companies we use or have experienced, and the income
goes to keep our website running. Thank you for visiting our St Petersburg Travel Resources!
Hello! We are Davide & Anastasia the founders of st-petersburg-essentialguide.com.☺
We would like to let you know that apart from writing unique content for our travel website we can also help with the arrangement of your Airport Transfer, Private City Tour, and Russian Visa Support, or anything else you may need during your stay or the planning of your trip to St Petersburg Russia. Just get in touch with us today for more info!
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